Means for ventilating and cooling cars



May 12, 1925. 1,537,587

J. COLOMBO ET Al.

MEANS FOR VENTLATING AND COOLING CARS Filed oct. Y22. 1924 Patented May 12, 1925.

UNITEDr STATES 1,537.58? PATENTA OFFICE. j

JOHN ooLoiviBo AND CHARLES ANGELLO, or AUBURN, NEW YORK.

` MEANS FOR VEN'LILATING .AND COOLING CARS:

Application led ctober 22, 1924i. Serial N'o. 745,184.

To all whom ffmai/ vconce/wi.'

Be it known that we, JOHN COLOMBO and Ciiaizniis Anonimo, citizens of the United States, residing at Auburn, in the countyof Cayuga and State of New York, havein- 'vented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for i/'entilating and Cooling C'rars, of which thefollowing is a specifica`- tion.

This invention relates to meansforventilating and cooling cars used for transporting perishable freight and the like, and has for its object to provide novel, simple and effective means for forcing air into cars by the movement of a train in oppositedirections. A further object is to provide'two or more vseries of similar conduits or pipes, which may be disposed in any convenient part of a railroad car. the said conduits communicating with the atmosphere, by means' of a plurality of funnel-shaped eX- tensions, which preferably pass through and project above the roof ofthe car, the said funnels preferably being disposed near the opposite ends of thecar, and the funnels at the respective ends preferably facing in opposite directions, for facilitating the alternate charging of said series of conduits with air which is compressed by the movement of the car in opposite'directions, the'said conduit being arranged in the form'of a rectangular' loop. which entends 'substantially the full length and breadth of the'interio'i of the car, certain of said conduits" having pro-4 gressively increasing ports or openings, for (he exit of the air received from thefunnels; said conduits.l as shown being arranged in two similar sections, and 'each section receiving and dispensing only the air'received from the fuiinels located at the corresponding ends of the car. A further object is to provide means for plugging yfor closingthe tunnels during cold weather. And. a further object is to provide means for utilizing the said conduits for dispensing heated in-' stead of cool air.

IVe attain these objects by the means set forth in the detailed description which follows. and as illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which Figure l, is a broken top plan View of a freight car; showing by full'and dott-ed lines the arrangement ofthe Ventilating and cooling pipes: also showing the funnels by which the pipes are charged with air. Fig. 2 is the central vert-ical longitudinal secis a vertical cross-section, taken on line S-o tion, taken on line' 2-'-2 of Fig. 3. o. Fig. 3

of Fig. l showing the means for supplying heated air to the conduits. Fig. l is a broken elevation of one of the transverse conduits. 'Fig 5 isa siinilaryiew ofo'ne of thel longitudinal conduits. Fig. 6 is Aan enlarged view of one of the unions.; yshowing the means for preventing the air received from one set of funnels from flowing into: the series of pipes whichconnect `withthe opposite' set of funnels. And Fig."7 is av vie-w showing means for plugging the :funnels for preventing air from reachingany of the dispensing`.pipes.

In the drawing,` 2 represents generally the body of a box-car suitable ,for transporting fruits and other perishableifreiglit, and 2 is the` roof of the car.- y 5" Our Ventilating and cooling system coinprises a plurality .of conduits, as 3-3 preferably made of ordinary piping, which` are disposed along the opposite sides of the car, preferably near the'- eaves of the roof 2';

The conduitsB-S preferably extend from the ends toward the middle ofthe car where they are connected byfmeans'of unions 4:. At the ends of the car, the pipes '3-3 are connected respectively by means of *trans-` verse pipes 5 5', and elbowsa. The-pipes 3 and 5 are supplied with ai-r by vmeansyof funnels 6, which are mounted on thetop ends of short pipes 6, the latter tappingthev pipes' 5, vand then extending v,upwardly through the roof 2. The pipes 3 and.5 are similarly supplied with air by means of funnels 6a, -Which are mounted on the topends of pipes 6b. The tunnels 6 and 6? face iny opposite directions, and whenV the car .is moving in the directions in which mouths of -the several pairs of tunnels face, the air isv collected by the funnels and'thence conduc'tf ed downwardlyy into the'pipes 5 and 5 to be distributed b v the latter, in opposite di rections to the pipes 3-3. All of the horizontal pipes are provided with perforations'v for the exhaust ofthe air, and in order" to insure thel carrying of the air tothe middle of the car, the pipes 5 5 are preferably provided with relatively small perfor-ations, 7 all the same size; fwhile the pipes and 3 are provided with perforations 7 which.

increase in diameter progressively fro-m the ends towards the middle of the car, as shown in Fig. 2. In the vpreferred form of the device the longitudinal .or side pipes Ward. By providingthe cross-pipes 5 f3-3' only conduct the air from the i'espective. ends of the car to the unions, the ysaid unions being' provided with stops, which consist oit imperforate disks 8. the latter being clamped between the members 4 and Il.

of the unions, as best seen in Fig'. (i. By this construction and arrangement, when the car is moved in either direction, fresh air Will be carried by the pipes 3 or 3 a sufficient distance to effectively ventilatie and cool the car. vBy disposing the tunnels t--6'1,v as herein shown, the car will be ven? tilated and cooled to` the same extent whether it is being moved backward or for yf/ n) with the small perforation 7, the .greater volume of the air is carried by said p'ipes vvemployed for closing the smoke pipe open- .ings of ordinary chimneys.` The pipes 31-3 and .5V-v5 are preferably supported by brackets 10, Which may be bolted to theuprightsQa'of the caii'fra'ine.

Obviously the Vsame system of piping` may be employed for heating fruit andA other ycars during Vcold Weather, by first plugging the tunnels 6 6 as shown in Fig. 7, and then conducting` heated air-'derivedfrom a.

jacket 1Q, Wliicli,'niay be placed loosely around a steam pipe 13 disposed beneath the car, the hot air being'conducted 'from the jacket l12 by risers 14 which vconnect to the' what we' claim ispipesB-r-S.` as shown in Fig. 3.

l'Having` thus vdesci'ibed our invention.

1 Means for ventilatinlg;- and cooliiier freight and other cars. comprising parallel perforated side conduits disposed inside the car atthes'ides near its top, means for coupling' the conduitsl at the'csides ot the cai', means for forcing air into the side conduits y between the couplings and the opposite 'ends of the car alternately according' to Whether `the car is moving,r in a forward or ina reverse direction, and means for preventing' .the air from flowing through said couplings. 2. Means vfor Ventilating andv coo-line' freight'andother cars, comprising` parallel perforated;aligning side conduits disposed inside ofy a car at the sides near its roof, means for couplingthe aligning,` conduits at the opposite sides near the middle of the car7 means for preventing communication betweeir the aligning conduits, means forl charging the conduits at one lside of said couplings with air When the car is beine* moved in one direction, and means 'for charging the conduits at the other side o'f the couplings When the car is being moved in the opposite direction.

. 3. Means Jfor ventilating' and cooling cars and the' like,lcomprisingl parallel aligning' side conduits extending from the opposite ends toward the middle of the car, said conduits being' perforated and the perforationsincreasing` in diameter progressively towards the. middle of the cai', means for coupling the meeting ends of the laligning conduits, means it'oi reventinpT communication between the a ignin'g conduits. cross conduits connecting' the respectiveside con-v duits near the ends of' the car, and means coi'iimunicating; with the cross conduits for charging' the corresponding pairs o'l side conduits with a-ii compressed bythe movement of the car in either direction.

4. Means it'oi' ventilating and cooling: freight cars comprising aligningI` perforated conduits disposed atthe opposite inner sides of the car, unions for supporting the meetingends of the aligning conduits, means carried by the unions for preventingcommunication between the aligning conduits, the perforations of said side conduits increasing in diameter progressively froin the ends ofthe car towards said unions, perforated cross conduits, the perforations of the cross conduits being ot ,uniformdiameter, and tunnels disposed above the -roof of the car adjacent the'` ends andl adapted forsupplying' air to the side conduits between the unions and the adjacent ends of thecar. p

Means for cooling' and ventilating freight. cars and the like, comprising` similar side conduits ldisiiosed alongv theinner top sides of a. car, said side conduits being` arranged in` pairs, and each pair extending;r

from the correspondingi` end Vtowards the middle of the car, each pair of said conduits being perforated and the said perforations increasing' in diameter progressively from the ends towards the middle4 of the vcai" foi" equalizing the distrilnition of the air, cross conduits connecting each pair of side cone duits at the endsfof the cai', saidcross conduits having' relatively small perforations of uniform'diameter, tunnels for, charging one pair of side conduits and,A the corresponding ci'oss conduits with air when the car is being moved in one direction, Junnels for charging the other pair of side conduits and thecorresponding cross conduitivith air when the car is beingmoved in the opposite direction, and means for preventing the air Yfrom fiowing from one pair of side conduits into the other pair.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures.

` JOHN COLOMBO. y

CHARLES ANGELLO. 

